‘I’m disappointed in Pitso,’ says Hugo Broos after criticism from ex-Al Ahly coach

FILE - Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

FILE - Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Published Jun 14, 2022

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Johannesburg — Hugo Broos says he knows that criticism is part and parcel of his job as the national team coach, instead he wasn’t expecting it from Pitso Mosimane.

On Tuesday afternoon, Broos held his first press conference, at SAFA House, since his team was beaten 2-1 by Morocco in the opening round of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Responding to the heavy criticism that they’ve been subjected to as the team after enduring a four-game winless streak, Broos also touched on the recent remarks of his counterpart Mosimane.

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Amid Bafana’s preparations for the clash against the Atlas Lions, Broos said that Mosimane publicly criticised him for not reporting Percy Tau's medical report to his club Al Ahly after he sustained an injury on national duty.

“I am not surprised that there’ll be critics about the team and myself as the coach. When you are the coach, you are responsible for the results,” Broos said.

“Four days before the game against Morocco, suddenly Pitso Mosimane needed to criticise me about something that happened in September. And that was a surprise for me.

“It is because we didn’t send a medical report to Al Ahly about the injury of Percy Tau. I don’t want to tell the story, it’s not about what he said. But he was criticising me.

“I have enormous respect (for Mosimane) because of what he did (after winning five trophies with Al Ahly) in the last few months, but what he did as a colleague disappointed me.

“When you have such troubles, like he had at that moment, I don’t understand why you have to criticise a colleague. So, I am very disappointed in him.”

Mosimane and Al Ahly parted ways on Monday afternoon, following a string of high-level meetings in the last few days.

This comes after the South African, who won five trophies and two bronze medals during his 20-month stint at the club, failed to win his third successive continental crown after losing to Wydad Casablanca in the final.

@Mihlalibaleka

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